Safety tip cigarette



Sept. 3, 1963 D. O'SIEL ETAL SAFETY TIP CIGARETTE Filed July 9, 1962#5454 A. COOPER W 5 W United States Patent 3,102,543 SAFETY TIPCIGARETTE Dorothy OSiel, 775 Burnett Ave., Twin Peaks, San

Francisco, Calif., and Helen A. Cooper, 1538 Highland Blvd., Hayward,Calif.

Filed July 9, 1962, Ser. No. 208,212 3 Claims. (Cl. 131-4) The inventionrelates to an improved cigarette construction and, more particularly, tocigarettes having antifire safety attachments.

The patent literature is replete with cigarettes having added elementswhich purport either to extinguish the burning cigarette upon itsreaching a predetermined zone, or to support the cigarette securely onan ash tray, as by adding a band of magnetic material, adjacent the tipend which clings to ferromagnetic material on the ash tray. Each ofthese varieties, while serving a useful purpose in preventing fires, hasheretofore been mutually exclusive in purpose and function. In otherwords, the safety cigarettes heretofore available have either been ofthe selfextinguishing kind or of the self-supporting variety.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a safety cigarettewhich is both self-extinguishing and selfsupporting.

It is another object of the invention to provide a cig-aretteconstruction which is highly reliable in achieving its multiple safetypurposes.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a safetyoigarettewhich can readily and reliably be secured to substantially anysupporting surface, regardless of whether the surface possesses magneticproperties.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a safetycigarette construction which is very economical.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a safety tipcigarette which will extinguish itself upon reaching a predeterminedpoint regardless of the smokers continued drawing on the cigarette.

It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a safetycigarette which is readily packaged in conventional cigarette packagesor containers.

It is another object of the invention to provide a generally improvedsafety tip cigarette.

Other objects, together with the foregoing, are attained in theembodiment described in the following description and shown in theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a cigarette with safety attachmentshown thereon;

FIGURE 2 is a transverse section, to an enlarged scale, of the FIGURE 1form of device, the plane of the section being indicated by the line 2-2in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view comparable to that of FIGURE 2 but drawn to emphasizethe inner and outer tacky surfaces of the tape;

FIGURE 4 is a median, vertical longitudinal section of a cigarettehaving the safety band of double-surface cellulose tape disposedthereon; and

FIGURE 5 is a view comparable to that of FIGURE 3, but showing theappearance of the cigarette after the cigarettes fire has beenextinguished.

While the safety tip cigarette of the invention is susceptible ofnumerous physical embodiments, depending on the environment andrequirements of manufacture and use, substantial numbers of the hereinshown and described embodiment have been made, tested and used, and allhave performed in an eminently satisfactory manner.

The cigarette construction of the invention, generally designated by thereference numeral 12, comprises a conventional cigarette 13 including ahollow paper cylinder 14 enclosing shredded tobacco 16.

For convenience of description, one end of the cigarette will bedesignated as the front end 17, or forward end; the other end, as thetip end'18, or after end.

The safety device of the invention, it is clearly to be noted, isapplicable to all varieties of cigarettes, whether the tip 18 be of thelong used conventional type or of the kind which incorporates some formof filter element.

It is further to be understood that while the embodiment shown anddescribed herein is disposed on and projects radially outwardly from theouter periphery of the cigarette paper cylinder, the device is equallyefficacious where the safety members are set into the cigarette so thatonly the outermost elements of the safety attachment project radiallyfrom the outer envelope of the cigarette paper cylinder. This result canbe effected either by substituting the cellulose band for the underlyingcigarette paper ,or by wrapping the band so tightly around the paper asto ,constrict the paper sufiiciently to accommodate the band withoutincreasing the diameter In all forms of the device, the cellulosic band,designated by the numeral 21, is of the form which is coated on bothsurfaces with an adhesive layer. This is to say, on the inner surface ofthe tape band 21 there is provided a tacky adhesive layer 22 (see FIG.3); on the outer surface, a tacky adhesive layer 26.

As appears most clearly in the somewhat exaggerated showing in FIGURE 3,the inner, tacky, adhesive layer 22 clings tightly to the subjacentsurface or periphery, of the cigarette paper '14.

The outermost adhesive layer 23, on the other hand, provides an equallytacky stratium. This outer layer 23 not only cooperates with the inneradhesive layer 22 to provide the constricting, fire extinguishingresult, hereafter to be described, but it also offers a sticky surfacewhich clings to substantially any [and all cigarette supporting members.In other words, while the cigarette is burning, the smoker can, by aquick motion, attach the tacky band surface 23 to an ash tray, to theedge of a piece of furniture, such as a chair, table or piano, or to anycomparable object. This action can be undertaken in full confidence notonly that the cigarette will adhere to the object but that as thecigarette burns to the cellulose band, the fire will be extinguished.

it has been found that where the cellulose tape or cellophane tape as itis commonly known, is coated on both sides of the tape with an adhesivelayer, a severe, intense constrictive effect is achieved where heat isapplied to one end of a band of such tape.

Where, for example, a band of double-surfaced tape is applied adjacentthe tip end 18 of a cigarette (see FIGS. 4 and 5), the cigarette willdraw in normal fashion until the burning tobacco and hot ash approachesthe band 21. As the plane of the burning tobacco approaches the adjacentend of the tape band, a physical-chemical change in the band and thedouble adhesive surfaces occurs.

The effect of this change is to constrict the adjacent circular edge 25of the band and to cause the band to assume the severely necked in shapeindicated in FIGURE 5.

The precise reason why this intense necking in occurs is not clearlyknown. The result of this constriction, however, is quite apparent: itis an almost immediate extinguishment of the cigarette fire. This same,rapid effect is observed whether or not the smoker continues to draw onthe cigarette, and whether or not a wind is present, which wouldordinarily affect the burning rate.

While the self-extinguishing and self-supporting fea tures of the deviceare efiiciently provided by the doublesurfaced band of tape, it issometimes preferred to cover the tape 21 with a band of metallic foil26. The smooth, metallic foil band encompasses and adheres to the outeradhesive layer 23 of the tape and thus isolates or insulates each of thetacky layers from the others for convenience in packaging. In otherwords, 'with the metallic foil coatings, the safety cigarettes can beinserted in and removed from the package without sticking together. Atab 27 is provided by overlapping the foil a short distance, as appearsin FIGURES 1 and 2, thus providing a ready means for stripping the foilfrom the underlying adhesive layer.

The foil serves an insulating purpose, and it serves to keep theadjacent adhesive layer moist and tacky for extended periods of time.The foil, being metallic, also serves an additional purpose for thosewho prefer to keep the foil in place while smoking. Retention of thefoil I not only provides a distinctive appearance, but furnishes a heatexchanging or heat dissipating effect so that when the cigarette firereaches the metallic band and the underlying double-surfaced cellulosetape, constriction of the tape combines with the heat dissipating eifectof the foil to cause the cigarette fire to be extinguished undersubstantially all conditions of use. Furthermore, at about the timeconstriction of the cellulose tape occurs, the metallic foil bandbecomes somewhat loosened and expands slightly, thus providing a visualindication to the'smoker that the cigarette is on A satisfactory tapematerial having adhesive on both faces is presently obtainable on themarket under the name of Scotch brand Double Stick Tape. The tape ismade by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company and the containertherefor makes reference to patents numbered 2,693,918, 2,889,038,2,897,960 and Re. 24,906. The tape is provided with a pressure sensitiveadhesive on both faces and has proven effective for applicants purposes.

It can therefore be seen that we have provided a highly reliable andeffective safety tip cigarette which is capable both of supportingitself on any convenient surface and of extinguishing itself uponreaching a predetermined zone in the cigarettes length.

What is claimed is:

l. A safety cigarette comprising: a cigarette provided with a body oftobacco and paper cover and having a front end and a tip end; and a bandof cellulose tape having a layer of substantial thickness of pressuresensitive adhesive on each face thereof; said tape encircling at leastsaid tobacco adjacent said tip end.

2. A safety cigarette as defined in claim 1 wherein said band encirclesthe outer surface of said paper cover and is adhered thereto.

3. A safety cigarette as defined in claim 2 including a band ofnon-sticky sheet material overlying said cellulose band and removablyadhering to the outer layer'of adhesive thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,996,002 Seaman Mar. 26, 1935 2,030,135 Carpenter Feb. 11, 19362,226,589 Smyers Dec. 31, 1940 2,666,437 Lattof Jan. 19, 1954

1. A SAFETY CIGARETTE COMPRISING: A CIGARETTE PROVIDED WITH A BODY OFTOBACCO AND PAPER COVER AND HAVING A FRONT END AND A TIP END; AND A BANDOF CELLULOSE TAPE HAVING A LAYER OF SUBSTANTIAL THICKNESS OF PRESSURESENSITIVE ADHESIVE ON EACH FACE THEREOF; SAID TAPE ENCIRCLING AT LEASTSAID TOBACCO ADJACENT SADI TIP END.